Vacuum cleaner



Patented May 20, 1941 Frederick ltiebel, 'Jr., Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Air-Way Electric Appliance Corporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Applicati on' July 22,1936, Serial No. 91,929

3 Claims.

This invention relates to vacuum cleaners and has as its object to provide a'motor driven revolving agitator capable of exercising an improved brushing or beating effect upon a rug or carpet suspended on an air cushion against the mouth of the suction hood in which such agitator operates. To this end, the invention contemplates a. brushing 'or beating element having a pendulum swinging movement with regard to the revolving spindle which carriesit in a cylindrical path in repeated contact with the rug. The agitating element is adapted to swing, during one revolution of the spindle, from a lagging or retarded position to which it has been moved by contact with the rug to an advanced position in which it again meets the rug. The advantage speed'of the brush element during rug contact is considerably less than it would be if the element were fixedly-mounted in the spindle so as.

to be retarded only such amount as would be allowed by normal flexing of the bristles; in the second place, the action of the bristles on the carpet is to first penetrate the pile of the carpet with relatively no swiping across the pile and then as its limit of rotation relative to the spindle is reached, to whisk through and out of the carpet pile, carrying with it embedded hairs, fibers, etc-., under which it has been able to dig as a result of the initial penetrating movement. To put it shortly, the movement of the brush is first one of downward penetrationand thence one of lateral whisking. The advantage in connection with a beating element is that of increasing to a maximum the downward component of the blow against the rug, and decreasv ing the side-swiping effect of the beater.

Further objects will appear in the perusal of the following detailed description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawing in which: u

"Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of a rotary agitator embodying a modification of the invention,

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a portion of the spin- In Fig. '1 I have illustrated in cross section the suction hood l0 having a bumper II, stainless I steel rug engaging lips I! defining the mouth I3, and a drive belt It which revolves the spindle l5of the rotary agitator.

The latter is provided with 'a channel depression I6 extended parallel to the shaft 11 on which the spindle revolves and accommodating the cylindrical back l8 in which are mounted the brush bristles IS. The ends of the back l8 are extended to form trunnions (not shown) which are journalled in bearings formed between the,

. the mouth l3 to a position Where it will be Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view through a floor I tool of a vacuum cleaner embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the whisking action taking place at the moment the brush ele ment severs contact with the rug, v

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the rotary agitator showing the. position of the brushing element at the half-way interval between one carpet blow and the next,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the position of the agitator element at the moment of making contact with the rug.

direction indicated by the arrow 23.

swept by the brush l9 as the latter is carried. around by the spindle IS. The bristles of the brush l9 have been deflected rearwardly by contact with the rug. As they leave the rug, they commence to straighten out as indicated by' the arrow 22. The rotary agitator is revolving in the The momentum which the brushing element thus acquires will cause it to swing in its bearings in advance of the movement of the spindle 15. For

.Upon contacting the rug 21 the brush will commence to swing in a reverse direction relative to the spindle as indicated by the arrow 24. To put it in a different manner, the brush will commence to lag behind the rotation of the spindle as the axis of the brush mounting continues to move downwardly. At its lowermost position the brush will correspondingly move downwardly and since its circumferential movement relative to the rug is momentarily checked, the effect will be that the bristles will dig into the pile of the carpet with relatively no transverse movement through the pile.

As the spindle continues to revolve; the rear edge of the channel l8 will catch up with the brush and will force it ahead, causing the bristles to flex and to move transversely through the pile of the carpet and upwardly, finally resulting in the whisking severance of the bristles from the pile as indicated in Fig. 2. The cycle of the operation will then be repeated.

It is obvious that this type of action will be much more effective in digging out embedded hairs, fibers, etc., than is the conventional brushing movement of a brushing element fixedly attached to its spindle.

The timing of the swing of the brush so as to bring it into the proper upwardly inclined entering position of Fig. 4 at the moment of carpet contact, is effected by combination of varicompress until its resistance is sufficient to overcome the resistance of the pile of the carpet.

The brush will then whisk out of the carpet.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a. form of the'invention in which the agitating element comprises a channeled beater bar 21 connected to the back l8 by means of a strip of soft rubber 28. The

1. In a vacuum cleaner, a suction hood, a rotatable spindle therein, means to revolve the spindle, an elongated brushing element swingably mounted on the spindle, a depression formed in the wall of said spindle in which said brushing element is swlngably mounted, and resilient means for causing said element to assume an inclined position in advance of a position radial to said spindle in the direction of rotation of the spindle, just prior to contact with the rug being cleaned.

2. In a vacuum cleaner, a suction hood, 8. re-

- voluble spindle therein, means for revolving the flexibility of the agitator element, its length, and

the amount of over-lap in the path of revolution of its tip and the surface of the carpet.)

Adjustment of any one or several of these factors has been completely dampened by resilient wings Na, and the inertia factor has been substantially eliminated. The brush is held in its proper entering position by the wings 26a when compressive strains thereon are equalized. As the brush contacts the carpet, the rear wing will spindle, an elongated brushing element mounted in a depressed channel in the wall of the spindle, a pair of bearings swlngably mounting said element in said channel, and maintaining said brushing element in said channel and means for causing said element to assume a position in advance of a position radial to said spindle prior to its contact with the surface to be cleaned, means to resiliently limit such swinging move ment in'a position of the brush inclined behind the radial plane of the axis of swinging movement, said element adapted. upon severing contact with the rug, to swing from said position in the direction'cf rotation and to reach a position inclined ahead of said plane when the spindle has carried it around to a position to again engage the rug. 7

3. A structure as definedin claim 2 in which said'means for causing said element to assume an inclined position comprises rubber wing elements located at the base of the brush bristles, which wing elements are adapted to contact the surface of said spindles.

FREDERICK RIEBEL, JR. 

